The Lightfall Campaign
Summary 200 years ago, a rock the size of a city crashed down from the sky trailing a golden light. At it's point of impact some kind of rift opened, and from that rift poured out monsters and abominations unlike the world had ever seen. This impact and these creatures caused such chaos and destruction that civilization on the continent of Golarion was all but wiped out. Somehow, in a manner since lost to time, a small group of individuals managed to seal this rift, and the world was saved. When they did so, they made sure that the enchantment behind this sealing was the most secure the world had ever seen: in order to do this, four Locks were created, each one forming a key part of this binding ritual. One lock each was given to the four primary races: Humans, Elves, Dwarves, and Halflings. Since then, civilization has just managed to rebuild itself, but something is wrong. The Locks have fallen under attack, by a mysterious figure known as Chor Bryllyn. In their adventures, the Third Party has attempted to stop a variety of machinations he's put into motion, all while trying to discover his true nature, and the nature of the Lightfall. Prologue The Third Party started out as simply a group of individuals traveling by the same carriage to the dwarvish city of Ironhelm, when their carriage fell under attack. Awakening from unconsciousness, they found themselves bound by vines in a rundown stone chamber. Upon freeing themselves, meeting each other and exploring for a bit, they found that they were in an ancient elvish temple, possibly one that predated the Lightfall. The temple was filled with a strange, natural magic, and as they explored the group found themselves under attack by animated, tree-like creatures. Searching further, they discovered a long, church-like chamber filled with rows of pews. At the front was a massive pile of bodies, some of which rose up, animated by the sickly green vines, to attack them. Upon defeating them, and examining the bodies, they found that there was not a trace of blood on the pile. Nearby, they discovered a tunnel leading them into a massive chamber: coliseum-like in its nature, long rows of benches encircled a central arena, at which there stood two figures: a dryad, beautiful and seemingly formed of leaves and flowers, and a huge, hulking creature of vine. The creature was in the process of draining the blood of a body into a stone basin. She introduced herself as Gaelia, and begged them to understand her situation: She claimed that a spirit governing these lands and this temple was enraged, and could only be sated and kept from corrupting the land by a sacrifice of the blood of the innocent. She asked the group to aid her by going into the tomb of the spirit, which she could not enter, and presenting her with a pendant. After some debate they agreed, leaving only Vanya behind in the arena. Upon entering the hidden tomb, the spirit appeared to them. She appeared almost decaying, and angry. When they present the pendant, she flies into a rage, screaming that they'd stolen it. After a brief fight, they manage to talk her down a bit, and gather that the blood of the innocent is in fact defiling her resting place. She demands that they go back to Gaelia and stop her, and she curses Petice Way such that he will die if they do not. Returning, they find Vanya unconscious and the back wall shattered, revealing an unearthly, sickly tree, it's branches and roots digging into the temple. Gaelia refers to this as the Gaia tree. Gaelia, empowered now, is flanked by two of the vine-covered behemoths, and commands them to attack, as she moves into combat herself. The fight against them is long and hard, and as the end draws near Gaelia retreats into the Tree itself, and Brad follows. He finds himself in a strange, material-less dimension, and realizes he's glowing with an incredible radiance. This newfound power lets him defeat Gaelia, and he escapes the Gaia tree. The Gaia tree begins to collapse, and with the removal of its branches and roots the temple begins to shake and crack. Seeing the coming fall of the temple, the group begins fleeing, dragging a few of their unconscious friends to safety. Before they leave, the spirit appears to them one more time. She appears more whole now, and thanks them profusely, saying that although she has little to give them in terms of material goods, they can keep the amulet. She leaves them with a piece of information, and a request: pointing to Brad, she claims he is "Lightsworn." Finally, she asks that they find her daughter, Eleanor. With that, the group navigates the caverns beyond, and escapes into daylight. The Ched Arc The Trial of Elora * after climbing/falling/jumping down a mountain, the group reaches ched. there's a field of gross coocoombers and they reach a wall and yell at some guards until they get in. then there's a drow who's about to be hung for being a "monster", but Maggie is fetched/bribed and the crowd is dispersed. Nube in the Night * nube has a dream and jumps out a window. and we never saw him again. Jonathan's General Goods * enter the most eternal meme of the entire series. legends say that vanya has taken over/expanded the JGG brand. godspeed you beautiful bastard. The Farmhouse * this is where fienna and jiutou first met. also there was a religious statue missing from the house and some dead bodies? anyways something is killing all the guards. The Scarecrows and the Conduits * we fight a bunch of scarecrows and its really... scary. Marcus's Secret * (his secret is that he's a LITTLE BITCH) Finale: The Skinwalker * Creepy monster is a hoarder. more news at 11 * spoiler alert: we killed it. wow. Interlude: Petice's Hometown * "Petice? Son?" //CUE THE FEELS * oh by the way your brother is missing jsyk no biggie The Demon Lord Arc Pt.1 The "Capturing" of Fienna * for the record this was "all according to 'plan'" * fienna gets """taken prisoner""" by Ilvenora and some slavers while attempting to find Holstein * everyone else buys sweet new gear The Red Dragon * there's an angry dragon missing it's kid or something? It's really pissed off and wants like 2k gold The Bandit Captain, and the Masked Man * guess what the baby dragon is here! we find it and idk the mom's still pissed so yeah Fienna's Escape * fienna sells 10 years of childhood memories to break out of a prison and bluffs the shit out of ilvy. * also the party gets reunited by falling from a hole into a lake. * moral of this story: dont split the party Demogorgon Rises! * some fucking fishpeople + Holstein summon demogorgon. also WHAT HAPPENED TO LICHEN FUCK I HOPE THEY'RE OKAY The Labyrinth, and Arrival at Ironhelm * honestly i dont even remember what this is The Act of Terrorism * 100% kriv's fault, he made the explosion himself and everything He Who Walks Behind * Petice and Lillian go back to back through a mine in search of her mentor. it's actually really creepy. we still need to deal w/ heehoo huh. Zalphor, and the Journey to the City of Blades * rip zalphor ;_; Ping Feng's Immortal Zoo * oh good this asshole is dead now. * basically there was a zoo of suffering animals including a human-faced dragonfly, a four headed tortise, a jade tiger, a stone giant, and some other shit i dont remember. brad befriended like everyone, it was great. * at some point fienna got infected by a mushroom. i only remember this since PF was too. Themberchaud, and the Whorlstone Tunnels * Here's another angry dragon! He wants us to perform an abortion! Wow! * also this was where DnD Civil War I took place, over a fucking hat. Ront * guess what? Ront's actually evil (or is he? Jury's still out on that one)! shit!!! * orcus possessed noctem?? and they fought and there was a rock and eventually ront dies and it's kind of sad. * Ront had a sad backstory involving a shitty pun but then we interrogate his corpse? A Summons to Gauntlgrym, and Widow's End * The Party receives, through Trellimar, a message concerning a meeting they are asked to attend at the new dwarvish city of Gauntlgrym. One King Bruenor Battlehammer is concerned about the demon threat, and wishes to formulate a plan with them and contribute resources to aid them. * Based on a note found on Ront's body and the things his corpse confessed, the party is led to a meeting between Kazakus and Holstein at Widow's End, a beautiful crystal-filled cavern known for it's treacherous waterfall. It is there that the following fight ensues. Holstein Uvarmastrom * there was a really cool fight we WERENT supposed to win and we kidnap the mysterious masked man!!! who's actually petice's brother!!! fuck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Blingdenstone, and Confronting Ilvanora * uhhhh we're about to go to the surface but we stop for revenge. also khazakus is there; he wants help with finding his son. The Demon Lord Arc Pt.2 Gauntlgrym, and the Stone Council * this was where we got a bunch of help for the demon lord fight. yaaay armies! Mantol-Derith * idk bruh these names are all the same "underground edgy place" The Trials before the Library * kriv lost knowledge of the cube, ossin lost some of his emotions, and fienna found out how much money she was worth. * there was a chance to betray each other that we totally didnt take, yay friendship! * also we had to figure out which of 3 people was a murderer; it was intense Gravenhollow * fuckinggngngngn vision library up in here Vizeran Devir's Plan * it was a shitty plan or something, we needed to finish making the dark heart * purple worm eggs, garistro heart, demon lord ichor, beholder eye, angel feathers, some other shit, mix well, put it in the oven and let roast for 3 hours Menzoberranzen * slave city??? what else were we here for again??? Waterdeep Asylum, and Macaulkan Grey * petice way gave an amazing distraction concert with some hella backup dancers * meanwhile the rest of us go into an asylum. yaaaaay. i think we met rhakim here? Zuggtmoy's Wedding * her dress wasn't even that great tbh, and there was no catering! * also she was forcing a very nice big mushroom to be her husband. yikes. * Jubilex crashes the party and ossin ALMOST died but he's too badass for that Yeenoghu, the Laughing Demon Lord * Garistro heart: get! * PETICE WAY TELLS A DEMON LORD TO FUCK OFF AND IT'S GLORIOUS Return to the Ruins of Ironhelm * its fucked uuuuuup * also the lock is broken yikes @zalphor Lanniver Straihl * Kriv: "dick" * also we meet perra here!! Just in time for her to die, and then get immediately rezzed. A Prison for a Mad God * we go to the Zhentarim's party city and fight our personal demons. its actually semi-cathartic. * "i'm already dead, petice" //sound of hearts breaking * also then vorgok just fucking one hit kills a beholder. 99% sure he's just in that prison for fun Gathering an Army * we get a couple more allies and have an awesome party Finale: The Demon Lords * so at some point during this we got a big red gem that grazzt wants. and we gave it to the mask. * turns out, grazzt is the mask! and he takes over kriv and its awful. evil kriv is still a huge dork tho. * luckily we kill/castrate him. then we gotta go fight demogorgon. * fienna dies, then ares enacts her revenge. eat shit demogorgon. * petice and cam pull a combo kill, and later resurrect fienna. group hugs all around! Interlude: House Demonsbane * YEAH BOIIIII WE GOT A FUCKING HOUSE!!! * we party till Jack Sandweaver shows up trying to invite us to an orgy * also chillmaw was there, and king arthus said something shitty, and the north asked for help The Saltspit Arc A Kidnapping * rhakim got kidnapped, right? there was a fake summons and it was awful A New Friend, and an Assassination Attempt * im actually not sure what this refers to specifically. like the new friend is garrison but was the assassination the dragons??? The Cult of Iactura * an inkeeper ends up being a cult leader, its wild. cue the massacre!!! :D Answers in the Ruins * Kriv finds a fucking holographic touchscreen magic map. He also finds some awesome notes on planar travel bullshit. Welcome to Katapesh * "oh hey there's a competition. lets enter it; it's not like the world's literally at stake or anything." * also the wish blade would have been useful too bad we never actually got it huh A Train Crash * a train crashes. uhh, at some point we found a bomb, but that was later. The Global Combat Exhibition * yeah Round 1: The Demonstration * we all show off. Breaker, Rhania, Quenthel Baenur, K'thellan, Kriv, Garrison, Fienna, and Petice all get in along with like 22 other people. we're just that cool. I think petice was seeded first and Quenthel second? Round 2: Capture the Flag * Fienna pulls arguably her stupidest move yet (which ended up being arguably her smartest move yet): partnering up with a reluctant Breaker. * K'thellan is an asshole and partners with Kriv, and Garrison and Petice partner up. then we all run around in some ruins to find a capstone. it's actually awesome. Round 3: The Arena * there's a bunch of fights. Kthellan beats Fienna, Kriv beats Qenthel, Garrison beats Rhania, and Petice almost beat Breaker. * Then Kriv and Breaker fight and he almost wins, but some asshole flute player intervenes and Petice investigates, and is threatened by a dragon. Also Kriv actually does die, but he gets rezzed really quickly while Kthellan and Fienna play keep-away with breaker. A Murder, A Dragon, and the Final Round * Kthellan forfeits his turn and the party go fight a dragon. we actually fucking kill chillmaw its great. * Garrison ends up fighting Breaker, who taps out. Then he gets fucking kidnapped by jack. great. The Saltspit Walls * jack nails some bodies to a wall to be edgy. great. Betrayal * we find out that Valinar is a spy after pushing him to the extremes of his method acting in a brothel. Petice and Jack * petice uses etherealness to scout the manor and try to find garrison The Prison Outpost * fuck man idk was this where we found some guy in a dream portal? And then breaker got some of his talent stolen and the place exploded. And we saved Khazakus To Alkenstar: Tracking Garrison * we found garrison! yay! Also he's having shitty nightmares and chor bryllyn is there. Turns out he can use magic in the Void Wastes. Massacre at the Camp * everyone is dead... fucking false live concentration spell goddamn. Return to Saltspit: Hey There, Delilah * we meet the girl valinar imprisoned in the fucking wall. time for revenge! * delilah and garrison are fighter buddies it's great The Caverns Below * We go down to meet jack Finale: Terminus * edgy Bargaining * jack keeps trying to strike a plea deal and ends up kidnapping jiutou. big mistake. * theres a spell circle he tries to get fienna into, who keeps stalling. then trelimar dies. shit. * also the fighting starts and everything is awesome. Breaker, Unbound * BREAKER IS FREED!!! Shoutout to Petice for breaking a lot of magic shit. Valinar gets fucked up. The Tables Turn * guess what chor bryllyn is here now also he's a dragon wow Jack's Legacy * im not sure what this is specifically for, but we rescue khazakus's son (the dreamer), noctem cuts off her arm to summon Jactura, cam dies to lock up CB for a month or so, and we all leave Ending: The Town, and the Vault * Jack is tortured, paraded through the streets, has his slaves freed, his vault uncovered, and finally, is drowned in front of angry citizens. his entire life's work has been taken away from him. it's beautiful. * this is what you get for fucking killing our friends Interlude: Business in Alkenstar * shoPPING! * petice and kriv help rhania's son * fienna and garrison buy some clothes, and a train company Interlude: Battle Royale * Petice wins. Garrison turns blue. This is probably why we're given a whole fucking management committee. Interlude: The Diplomatic Summit * we're apparently so dangerous that we need a goddamn committee. nice. * also time to save the world, protect some locks, build some trains, and do some research The Coastal Arc The Dead Prince Tavern * petice intimidates a guy by regrowing his fucking eye * then, we steal his fucking ship Captain Marrow * fienna is reunited with her Captain, which of course means time for a duel. everyone simultaneously realizes, "oh, this is why she's like... this" An Odd Mage * karazhan is insane but it's great. kriv is given anxiety. * noctem falls in love with a purple cloud. * we're told to invite more people to this guy's party. One Night in Karazhan! * notable guests/events include: * Noctem spiking the punch * 2 demons getting couples therapy * Petice Way getting an apprenticeship * Kriv ditching a party to go read like the nerd he is * Fienna getting banned * Everyone getting absolutely shitfaced A Game with Dragons * Surina Keliksas arrives at the party, alongside her two brothers, looking for revenge. * Medivh, as the Guardian of this place, insists that it be a neutral ground. The dragons seem to respect his power and influence here. However, Medivh cannot resist a request by Surina for a game between the two. ** Medivh appears to have hosted this game before: A representative from each group is put forward each round, and after the representatives are chosen a challenge is announced. ** If a single representative loses three rounds, they are eliminated. ** If either side wins two challenges in a row, they choose the nature of the next challenge, so long as it is approved by Medivh. ** Surina intends to use a challenge of her choice to face the Third Party in one-on-one combat, and kill them individually. ** However, the Third Party performs surprisingly well in a vast majority of the challenges, leading them to victory. Attack on Karazhan * Shortly after the game is finished, Joshua rushes in from the ships to warn the Third Party that the mist is approaching. Sure enough, there is little time to prepare before the Fog closes in. * Medivh ascends to the tower's peak, and mounts a defense using the storm spell Kriv is learning from him. The Third Party realizes that not only are the ships out there in the fog, so is Breaker. Kriv and Garrison decide to go out and attempt to find Breaker. * Entering the fog, they find it suppresses the senses and, although they do not realize it, disorients them severely. This ends up separating the two of them. * Kriv manages to cast Locate Creature despite the fog attempting to suppress all magic, and uses it to track down an unconscious Breaker. He wakes him, and brings him back to the tower. * Garrison ends up on the rocky coastline, and suddenly falls under attack by He Who Walks Behind. This very nearly kills him, as he finds he is unable to defend himself from the unseen attacks. * Kriv, upon returning to the tower and realizing Garrison has not come back, leaves Breaker and returns to the fog. Using magic to lead him once more, he reaches Garrison and leads him back to Karazhan as both of them fall under attack. * After their return, Kriv casts Medivh's Magnificent Maelstrom alongside Medivh himself to push the fog back to the shoreline. Following this, the Singer and He Who Walks Behind retreat. that has happened since * We go to the Cimarine Isles * fuckinnnn Lockbreaking * The Discord Call from Hell * Kriv Dies * Petice goes Super Saiyan * 2 Children Down, One to Go * The Stormcutter Flies * A Message from Lockheed * An Encounter with fire elementals. * Arrival at Fiora. * Examination of the Keeper's curse, Ruby's sickness. * Messenger arrives at the shoreline, ranting about Eidolon. * Kriv recognizes the name from legend. * Discovery of Jack's last Teleportation circle. * Eidolon is awful * fienna gets some glasses that she never ends up using * KOE gets KO'D * some more nerdy shit happens and we get some loot * we meet Petice's Mom Mentor * hey guess what surina kidnapping is not flirting silly * oh hey meeting time good thing PETICE IS FUCKING FROZEN * uhhh fuck what happened after Eidolon. * we get armies together i guess? * big fight time. lots of discussion and planning * locks being guarded and whatever. * I think the stuff with Delilah happened here too. * then we go do the interplanar roadtrip right? * something happened in the feywilds i think. Petice did a really fun name trick to a fae. also there's tears in reality now. * Limbo is fun. Fire Plane Bad. Then we meet the Watchmaker. * There's a robot and a forge piece and Ragnaros, and oh yeah we have the twins with us helping out. * Then we find the Convergence. Woah. * Maren leaves. * We go back and Petice claims his Vestige. * THEN WE GO BACK TO THE LOCK I GUESS?? * final goodbyes, closure, etc. * (also brad and eleanor appear. and the cube too i think?) * its a warzone. everyone's ready for hell. this is it. * spoiler alert: we weren't ready for it * everyone gets royally fucked. its awful. * CB breaks out, teleports to the prison. releases everyone (including Vorgok). shit hits the fan. * They all teleport back into camp, but we convince them to join us. Notsure helps us mass teleport people, and Lydia guides the Stormcutter on a vestige/CB hunt. * Also at some point kriv and petice went to find the watchmaker, saw vorgok, and fucking KILLED HER * there's illusions and Kthellan bait and we go to a cliff and fight Vorgok AND CB and its awful * turns out Vorgok was KOE'd the whole time. fuck everything. * the stormcutter burns. at least the shining empire does too. * We get the skull though, so thats good * everyone regroups. the silver empire tries to leave but fienna talks king arthus out of it. (turns out Commander Gunter was Skinwalked haha) * we say our goodbyes and make final preparations. Fienna asks Jiutou out. Rhania asks Petice out. * then we go to the maze engine. The party & Brad, Eleanor, Rhania, and Perra. * its floating in the sky in a shield and there's a dragon * we fight deathwing and head into the maze engine * Petice start getting suspicious of Eleanor being the Skinwalker as she guides us with the skull. * Deathwing drops down from above but kriv pops out a nice save with a wall of force. * Eleanor smiles, and breaks down the door to the center of the maze, where the Eternity Lock lies resting on a small table. * "Oh Petice. So close, and yet so far from the truth." ??? Finale The final fight happens. Chor Bryllyn is revealed to be Eleanor. Vorgok was Antonidas. Deathwing attacks. Ares is summoned (and leaves, for good). Petice goes Super Saiyan. Children re-appear. People die. People come back to life. Some dramatic lines are uttered. Maren stops the Lightfall. Noctem turns Deathwing into Deathbleat, the goat. Garisson has FOUR ARMS. Kriv uses Symbol on the cube and very fittingly ends Eleanor. Brad sacrifices himself to seal the lock, which Maren takes with him to parts unknown. Everyone teleports back and celebrates. Epilogue Friends are saved, and life goes on. Noctem becomes a demigod. Garisson finds his mom and runs a bakery. Kriv does many nerdy things and makes a scholarship. Fienna becomes the next Captain Marrow and is officially Chaotic Good. Petice starts a record label with Rhania and resurrects his brother, Holstein. And in a distant meadow, two stone markers bear engraved names: Cam Buckland and Brad, the Lightfallen. They aren't alone there, with all the friends that drop by now and then to visit. Their graves are never lonely. And everyone was happy, in the end.